About The Book
A Troll's Phantasmagoria by Ronald J. Willis
Published by Open Sea Press, March 2015
Distributed worldwide by Ingram
ISBN 978-0-9828197-0-8
Trade Paperback, 5.5 x 8.5, 176 pages
Paperback available at most online booksellers and through many brick-and-mortar stores in the US, UK, Europe, and many other parts of the world.
Also now available as a Kindle e-book.
A troll named Garn and his friend Lucy cavort and plot with friends in the New York City of the 1970s.
The novel's characters include:
Garn, a troll apparently from Scandinavia, living in NYC at time of novel
Lucy, close friend of Garn, who holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University, is an ancient language expert, and moonlights as prostitute in NYC
Gloria, Garn's girlfriend, who gives sex education demonstrations at parties
Breitbard, an aspiring novelist who writes his novels on the walls and ceilings in his Manhattan brownstone and whose wife, Rosa, roams the world
Magwich, scholar living in Brooklyn, multiply-published under several names, with some sort of connection to a secret society of statisticians
Professor Phaestus, who teaches Gnostic ontology at Princeton and appears sexually naïve
Grunbacher, who has quit his government job and chooses to stay in bed for months
and many more including "pygmy Bosch," an artist; "Gus," a sort of sculptor, who has delved into the statistician's society's secrets; and a Voodoo juju "priest."
Published by Open Sea Press, March 2015
Distributed worldwide by Ingram
ISBN 978-0-9828197-0-8
Trade Paperback, 5.5 x 8.5, 176 pages
Paperback available at most online booksellers and through many brick-and-mortar stores in the US, UK, Europe, and many other parts of the world.
Also now available as a Kindle e-book.
A troll named Garn and his friend Lucy cavort and plot with friends in the New York City of the 1970s.
The novel's characters include:
Garn, a troll apparently from Scandinavia, living in NYC at time of novel
Lucy, close friend of Garn, who holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University, is an ancient language expert, and moonlights as prostitute in NYC
Gloria, Garn's girlfriend, who gives sex education demonstrations at parties
Breitbard, an aspiring novelist who writes his novels on the walls and ceilings in his Manhattan brownstone and whose wife, Rosa, roams the world
Magwich, scholar living in Brooklyn, multiply-published under several names, with some sort of connection to a secret society of statisticians
Professor Phaestus, who teaches Gnostic ontology at Princeton and appears sexually naïve
Grunbacher, who has quit his government job and chooses to stay in bed for months
and many more including "pygmy Bosch," an artist; "Gus," a sort of sculptor, who has delved into the statistician's society's secrets; and a Voodoo juju "priest."
Chapter Titles
1/ The Eighth Wonder of the World
2/ Long Night’s Journey
3/ Princeton Day Trippin’
4/ Magwich
5/ A Subway Ride
6/ Fugue It, Johann Sebastian
7/ The Commune
8/ The Pierce-Arrow Poltergeist
9/ Fortune Cookies & Finklestein
10/ Something Muddy This Way Comes
11/ Skulls & Fire
12/ Supper Is Served
13/ Change Is A Constant
Read an excerpt from the book.
Reviews
"An inherently fascinating and absorbing read from beginning to end, "A Troll's Phantasmagoria" is as entertaining as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. This is one of those unique works of literary fiction that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf. "A Troll's Phantasmagoria" is very highly recommended for personal reading lists, as well as community and academic library American Literary Fiction collections."
~Midwest Book Review
“A romp but with serious themes. Speculative fiction/magical realism with humor and lots of references to people and things I thought were made up, but when I Googled them most of them are real! A friend suggested that I read this unusual novel and I was at first reluctant, but it really is good! Of other novelists I like, the style of this novel is most like some of Tom Robbins’, especially in Willis’ use of humor, obscure references to people, events and interest various religions, and characters that are both real and apparently imaginary.”
~Library Thing (5-star review)
1/ The Eighth Wonder of the World
2/ Long Night’s Journey
3/ Princeton Day Trippin’
4/ Magwich
5/ A Subway Ride
6/ Fugue It, Johann Sebastian
7/ The Commune
8/ The Pierce-Arrow Poltergeist
9/ Fortune Cookies & Finklestein
10/ Something Muddy This Way Comes
11/ Skulls & Fire
12/ Supper Is Served
13/ Change Is A Constant
Read an excerpt from the book.
Reviews
"An inherently fascinating and absorbing read from beginning to end, "A Troll's Phantasmagoria" is as entertaining as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. This is one of those unique works of literary fiction that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf. "A Troll's Phantasmagoria" is very highly recommended for personal reading lists, as well as community and academic library American Literary Fiction collections."
~Midwest Book Review
“A romp but with serious themes. Speculative fiction/magical realism with humor and lots of references to people and things I thought were made up, but when I Googled them most of them are real! A friend suggested that I read this unusual novel and I was at first reluctant, but it really is good! Of other novelists I like, the style of this novel is most like some of Tom Robbins’, especially in Willis’ use of humor, obscure references to people, events and interest various religions, and characters that are both real and apparently imaginary.”
~Library Thing (5-star review)
About the Author
Ronald J. Willis, c. 1972
Ronald J. Willis founded the International Fortean Organization and began publishing the INFO Journal as its editor in mid 1960s. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 23, 1930 , and died of brain cancer in March of 1975 in Washington DC area. He grew up in a small Missouri town in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, served in the U.S. Army as a cryptographer during the Korean Conflict, received a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, completed coursework for a Ph.D. in experimental psychology at Princeton University, and worked as a statistician. He collaborated with Jacques Bergier on the book, titled in French, Le Livre de l’Inexplicable (Editions Alvin Michel, 1970) and in English, Extraterrestrial Intervention, the Evidence (Regnary 1974). The editorship and authorship of the book appeared on the English version cover as “Jacques Bergier and the Editors of Info” and on the French cover as “Jacques Bergier et le groupe INFO.” It contained many articles reprinted from the INFO Journal, including his. He was active in the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s and ‘70s and his antiwar poetry appeared in a number of alternative newspapers of that time, including the East Village Other.